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The black cat by Edgar Allan Poe Poem analysis by Carolina Gómez Code: 1030561935

1. Characters:

 The narrator: This character, whose identity we don’t know, describes himself as a sane man who used to love and pamper animals and once was in love with his wife. As the story develops it becomes clear that he has a growing problem with alcohol that leads to a violent behavior.

 The narrator’s wife: She is described as a woman who loves her husband and gets multiple pets for him. She is also a bit cautious about Pluto (the first black cat), attitude that is described as the result of a primitive notion that considers black cats are witches in disguise. As her husband gets lost in alcohol, she becomes a victim of physical and emotional abuse.

 Pluto (The first black cat): The first cat is described as long, furry and pampered animal. The narrator’s favorite pet which also suffers the consequences of the narrator’s drinking problems losing and eye and ultimately losing its life as the narrator hangs it from a tree.

 Second black cat: This second cat resembles the first one and is described as a loving pet that as the first one would follow the narrator everywhere. As with Pluto we can see how the narrator’s view of this animal transforms to the point of viewing it as an unholy beast with a white spot with gallows shape in its chest.

 Policemen: These characters are believed to be around six, are the investigators of the events in the narrator’s house.

 Servant: This character appears at the beginning of the story showing us that the narrator was once wealthy before he got troubled by alcohol.

The black cat by Edgar Allan Poe Poem analysis by Carolina Gómez Code: 1030561935

2. Plot of the story The story is narrated in retrospective by a man who is condemned to capital punishment. He starts by telling the readers how he was a normal kid who grew into a loving husband and an animal lover. He describes his pets and highlights the importance of Pluto over all the others. He also describes his marriage, which started at an early age, with a giving and understanding wife. As the story develops we see how this happy story starts changing because of a problem the narrator has with alcohol, which makes him become violent towards his wife and pets. He starts mistreating everyone but Pluto, but one night he gets irritated by Pluto’s presence and cuts its eye. Afterwards, he decides to hang the cat from a tree to kill him. Many unfortunate events happen after Pluto’s murder; the first one is the fire that consumes the narrator’s house leaving only one standing wall with an image depicting the hanging cat. Then the appearance of a cat that is as a reincarnation of the first one which will worsen the man’s mental state to a point where he cannot control himself and attempts to kill it with an axe that ends up in his wife’s head. Even though he turns into a human killer, the narrator seems to be tranquil at this point of the story, feeling pride for the fact that he could successfully hide the corpse and he stopped being persecuted by the second cat. Finally, when the police came to his house and discovered the corpse and the missing cat the narrator is arrested and the beginning of the story is fully explained.

The black cat by Edgar Allan Poe Poem analysis by Carolina Gómez Code: 1030561935

3. Writing style, literary devices setting and context: Genre Thriller, psychological study Setting and Context 1843, (unnamed place, possible US), as the narrator is waiting for his execution Narrator and Point of View Unnamed narrator in first person Tone and Mood Grim, tense, dread-inducing Protagonist and Antagonist The narrator is the protagonist as well as the antagonist Major Conflict The narrator has a dormant violent side which leads him to murder his favorite pet, thus making him anxious and confused Climax When the narrator murders his wife. Foreshadowing The appearance of the image of the black cat on the narrator's wall Understatement The wife understated the narrator's violent mood swings and continues to remain with him after he abuses her and some of his animals. Allusions The black cats are alluded to be witches in disguises.

Imagery The most dominant image in the story of the image of the black cat hung by a cord appearing on the narrator's wall after his house has been burned down Paradox The narrator mentions that, these walls are solidly put together, as he raps on the place behind which his wife was buried. The police men descend on hearing the muffled cries of the cat and bring the wall down in matter of seconds. Parallelism The narrator, as in a parallel narrative, grows weary of both the cats he adopts, the one who hated him before and the one too friendly Synecdoche In the next, a dozen stout arms were toiling at the wall. - the dozen stout arms represent the police men as synecdoche Personification 'The wall did not present the slightest appearance of having been disturbed' The wall is personified at 'having been disturbed.'